Baked Chicken Meatball Meal Prep

Step 1

For the meatballs, pre-heat oven to 350 F. Soak the bread chunks in milk or water for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the rest of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl. Squeeze most(but not all) of the milk/water out from the bread chunks and use your hands to smash them into breadcrumbs, add to meatball mixture. Use your hands to combine all of the ingredients thoroughly. Wet your hands and form the mixture into balls slightly smaller than golf balls and move them to a tin foil lined sheet tray. Bake the meatballs for 15 minutes, remove from oven, and set aside.

Step 2

For the broccoli, bring a medium size pot of water to a boil. Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the boiling water and then cook the broccoli for exactly two minutes. While the broccoli is cooking add a bunch of ice to a large bowl and fill it ¾ of the way up with cold water. Use a strainer to grab the broccoli out of the boiling water and immediately put the broccoli in the ice bath for 2 minutes. Save the boiling water for the pasta. After 2 minutes, remove the broccoli from the ice bath and allow to thoroughly dry before moving to a clean bowl. Add all of the remaining broccoli ingredients to the bowl and mix well. Give it a taste, it may need more lemon juice or salt. Set aside.

Step 3

For the pesto, add the peanuts to a food processor and pulse for 10 seconds. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the cheese and olive oil, run the processor until everything is well combined, about 10-15 seconds. With the machine running, slowly add the olive oil and process until combined and very smooth. Add the cheese and process another 10 seconds. Turn the machine off and taste the pesto, it might need more cheese or lemon juice. If the consistency is a little dry, add 2-4 tablespoons more of oil while the machine is running.

Step 4

Cook the pasta in the reserved boiling water, adding another teaspoon of salt. Before you drain the pasta, save ½ cup of the cooking liquid in a cup. Add the strained pasta to a large bowl and add most all of the pesto, 2-3 tablespoons of reserved pasta water, and some grated cheese. Toss well, adding more pesto and reserved water if necessary.

Step 5

Assemble your meal prep containers by adding some of the meatballs, pesto pasta, and broccoli. Enjoy! The meatballs can be frozen for 2-3 months, everything else should not be frozen but will last in the fridge for 5 days. When time to re-heat, wrap the container in foil and place in a 400 F oven for 10-12 minutes. If using the microwave, cover the container with a wet paper towel.